It has been another long week. I am so sleepy I can hardly sit at the keyboard this evening. I am grateful that the weekend is here, though I will have to work this weekend to finish two work-related projects. Not my idea of a good time, but they need to be finished and so I’ll tackle them tomorrow. As much as I’d like to sleep in, I’ll likely get up early, though not at my usual 5:45 a.m. Tonight as my muse appears to have deserted me, I’ll share a few quick simple gratitudes before giving into my tiredness and hopefully going to sleep.
- I am grateful for the good crew of people I work with. They are hardworking, passionate, creative and energetic. They are each in their own unique ways committed to the work we’re all doing. I’ve been given the responsibility for providing leadership for the overall direction for the office, but it’s the team that I work with who bring the vision to life. And even if at times things get crazy and there are issues and drama–both internal and external–that flare up from time to time, by and large it is a pleasure to work with each of them.
- I am grateful for the work that I’m doing at this time in my life. It isn’t always easy doing work that some people may consider irrelevant or of lower priority than other things happening at the institution. At times I’ve grown weary of this opposition, and I long to find my way into doing something a little different–perhaps finish my novel. But one doesn’t simply shrug off a calling, which is partly what the work I do is. So it is not yet time for me to be released to do something different. I hope I’ll have clear signals from the Universe about when that is and what’s next. For now, I’ll continue to give my best and do the work that is set in front of me with dedication and excellence.
- I am grateful as always for friends and family. Rumor has it that one of my two sisters-in-law is in town visiting her daughter, one of my nieces, who lives here in the metro area. Tomorrow a number of us will have lunch and hang out with her for a bit. I am blessed to have sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law who are as dear to me as my siblings by blood. Our family is a fairly tight-knit group: gaining entrance and acceptance into our clan might feel like running a gauntlet (though I always thought we were nice…) but my siblings-in-law have been up to the task. This particular sister-in-law has been part of my life for nearly 40 years–that’s well over half my lifetime. I am grateful for who she’s been in my life over all these years and will definitely be glad to see her tomorrow.
- Finally, I am grateful for all that I am learning. Sometimes I feel like I’ve been a student of life since before I arrived on the planet. I have learned as many lessons from the challenging experiences in my life as I have from the safe and easy things, and while I have to say that I prefer safe and easy, I try to approach even unpleasant and difficult situations with a fervent hope that at least I’ll gain some valuable life experiences that will stand me in good stead at some other point in my life. “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” as the old saying goes. Well I’ve had times when I thought I was drowning in lemonade so frequently were the lemons raining down on me. But in the midst of the unpleasantness I’ve continued to hold the intention that I will learn and grow from whatever is going on in my life at a given moment. So far it seems to be working for me. Think I’ll stick with it.
So now it is time to take my rest for the evening. I look forward to getting some sleep and hopefully waking refreshed and ready to work in the morning. I’ll look expectantly to the new day and new possibilities, and of course recognize the blessings in my life and be grateful.
